Is G-d a Cardiologist?

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

The President chose this scripture for the memorial service in Dallas. The President noted that he had made these eulogies too many times during his tenure. I have watched too many. One was too many. But what have I done?  Raised my voice on social media in outrage? What else? Not much. Not enough.

He went on to say after referencing this passage from Ezekiel that America needs a new heart. An open heart. He is right.

But if G-d is a cardiologist I think he would recommend that America have open heart surgery. He needs to wield his heavenly scalpel and make an incision in our chest and part the flesh. He needs to saw through our sternum and open a wide cavity. He needs to use his almighty strength to pluck the stony waste of organ that we call heart from our bodies. And I pray that he casts our old heart so mightily that it exits our cosmos to never return. We need a new heart. A heart of flesh.

But G-d is not a cardiologist. He will not be performing this procedure. He is a spiritual healer. Not a physician. From all that I have seen, he is not an interventionist. He does not break out the defibrillator and shock the heart attack out of us. He lets the cardiac arrest take its course. And then he soothes the survivors in the aftermath. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

But America needs a new heart. Why does G-d not just make it happen?  In G-d all things are possible, so what is the hold-up?  There is hatred and evil and bigotry beating inside us. The nation is in a state of hypertension, a stroke is imminent and the Great Physician will not reach down from the Heavens and save us. What the hell is he waiting on? Where is he?

At this moment when it is plain that not just America, but the whole world is in need of a new heart, I have lost my patience. I’m fed up. Has the heavenly healer sold his practice to the devil? Has he packed up saying that he has had enough of our murders, our greed, our lack of compassion for one another?  Has he gone fishing? Hell, I would not blame him. I would have given up several centuries ago.

I want to believe that G-d is with us. I want to have faith that there is beauty behind all this pain. That there is some unknown purpose that all of this serves. That G-d is in control. That, as we were taught to sing, “He has the whole world in his hands.” I want to believe that my mortal perception is so flawed that I just cannot comprehend the magic that is happening behind the scenes.  That this world and the bad that happens here is just meaningless and that when we leave this earth all will be revealed and it will be good.

We need a new heart. But I just realized as I wrote this that I ignored the second part of the promise in this passage from Ezekiel, “and a new spirit I will put within you.” America needs a new heart. I need a new spirit. My spirit is damaged. The world seems designed to beat down our spirit, to squash our hope, and tear us apart from each other. How do we get G-d to grant this new spirit to us?

My inclination is to write a nice tidy ending to this post. To say that the new spirit already resides in us and all we have to do is look inside ourselves and find it.

But right now, the news from around the globe is too sad. The suffering is too great. And searching the depths of my soul seems like an overwhelming task at this moment. I will leave that for tomorrow.

Update: I just woke up. It is a new day.  Fortunately, I the end of the work day today, I start a two week vacation. I plan to get some projects done, turn off the news and relax, and spend time enjoying my family. I'm so thankful that I am afforded that kind of freedom, opportunity, and privilege. I wish that everyone had the same. I also plan to spend time reflecting on my thoughts that I put down in this post. I will turn off the noise and look inside myself to try and find the new spirit that must be there. I will think about what actions I can take to create change in this insane world. And I hope that I will return from vacation with a new heart.